PDD-NOS: Fear, Anxiety, and Perseveration

[annmariemama]

Anna reminds me so much of our daughter Maddie. She turned 4 yesterday and we are in the process of getting a diagnosis for her, but we are sure she is on the Autism spectrum somewhere near Aspergers or PDD-NOS. The repetitive speech where she sings Cathy's name over and over, my daughter does that a LOT. She does the same thing with covering her ears if we go into a public restroom even if there is no noise, because a toilet might flush and she is terrified. Thank you for posting these.

[halfhalva]

I realize that she is just a little girl, but maybe she wants to know how its made-perhaps speaking about the "intake, belt, chord, and changing the bag" can help. Also, maybe if she is engaged in some part of the vacuuming task it may help. "What the vacuum cleaner mean"?

[motleyminded85]

I'm just like her. ^__^

[misspinkpunkykat]

She means the NOISE is hurting her. So in a way you are lying to her when you say it can't hurt her.

[EgyptAhlyy256]

Hello there! Have you considered anxiety zero technique (Go to anxiety0.info)? Ive heard some awesome things about it and my mate pretty much cured panick attacks with it.



[EgyptAhlyy256]

hey hey! Have you thought about anxiety zero technique (I think its at anxiety0.info)? Ive heard some amazing things about it and my friend pretty much cured panick attacks with it.

[palpa257164]

Oh hey! Have you thought about anxiety zero technique (I think its at anxiety0.info)? Ive heard some great things about it and my cousin pretty much cured anxiety with it.

[FordKeller]

This made me sad. Please don't video your daughter like this anymore. Be her mom. Leave the therapy to the therapists.

[jlcapaz]

sorry, it was emotional for me and reminded me of my youth (and even now with noise). Thank you for your insights and openess.

[jlcapaz]

She wasn't just repeating herself she was singing, and then she was contemplating what Miss Cathy coming over was going to mean to her. Also, the NOISE IS HURTING HER in the vaccuum cleaner scenario, so its useless to insist that it can't hurt her, or that mommy will make it all go away. Did you try earmuffs? I guess its a moot point now.

[jinkss111]

omg i swear shes my twin!! fom her repeating an hitting n biting I'm looking at myself as a kid I swear to god!! 

[vicswiifey]

does she hug you when she is scared or always bites and hits you =) just asking dont mean to affend if i do

[holly0817]

@vicswiifey She is 10 years old now and will only hit and bite if she is truly terrified. We can usually prevent that level of fear if we are vigilant. She usually says, "I'm scared" and we talk about the situation to help her feel safe.

[wolfyknight]

This sounds JUST like my daughter. Both the vacumm cleaner, and 'monsters'.

[instagasm]

my daughter (age 7) PDD-NOS is afraid of her cieling fan, but only if it is OFF.and she doesnt like any toys in her room at night that make noise,even if they are off.and doesnt like dolls that have their eyes open.

[TheNadine5]

Thank you for posting your videos. This video is what my daughter does too when hearing the vacuum and loud sounds. She has fears to things most children would not even pay attention to (like dark clouds). It can be overwhelming at times, but I think of what my daughter is going threw and my heart breaks for her. Until you have a child with difficulties people just don’t understand what a parent goes threw everyday. God bless you & your family, Nadine from Canada

[TheNadine5]

Thank you so much for posting these videos of your life with your daughter. You seem like such a fantastic mom. How you stay calm is a mystery to me. It is so hard to stay calm when asked the same things over and over. This video is what my daughter does to sounds as well. Next week (after 1 year of testing) we will find out what she has. I'm scared but I want to know! God bless you and your family. Nadine from Canada

[agirlnamedsuess]

I think Mom should have explained to daughter why the vacuummakes aloud noise since she asked so many times. As an outsider, i heard that the daughter was wanting more of an explanation of why the vacuum was loud. Instead of mom being intent on proving a point by videoing her daughter's behavior, she could have spent that precious time explaiining briefly about the noises a vacuum makes. instead, the daughter pushed her emotions down deeper by mom saying that she "just should not be scared".

[nambrie]

Aww I LOVE her!! She is such a precious little girl. I know she brings you load of smiles. I know my little one does.

[summer79thompson]

My daughter has reactions to toilets, and I really had to work with her on this.. She refuses to use the automatic ones, and constantley asks everywhere we go if there is a "Flusher" reffereing to the toilet even asking strangers... I know she is asking if there is an automatice toilet, but strangers do not=(

[phineasandferbrulz]

@summer79thompson i get the feeling. i have PDD-NOS like Anna does, and when i was younger, i was afraid of toilets really bad. its not as bad now, but i'm still kinda afraid of them.

[ofxxxthexxxflowers]

you're such a good mother, it's really touching to watch.

[kinkymonkey77]

my daughter has pdd-nos and for the first 3 years of her at school she couldn't have lunch in the cafeteria with her classmates, because of the noise.

[sneezymonkey]

Bless her, Anna is just like my daughter..

[Kiger8Kiger]

I think this is a great brain disorder OR lack of dicipline?

[ngsjors]

I have PDD-NOS and im almost fully fearless :S

[18iser]

Yes but they are overreacting because they are females. Females are the weaker sex for sure.

[kingrue69]

I had no idea austic children had problems with loud sounds. Very educational.

[punk9999643]

Yeah, I'm very slightly autistic and I used to be terrified of loud noises. I still kinda am (Stuff like fireworks, jetcars. Anything like that). It sucks. But it never stops me from going to Rock and Metal concerts. :D

[Kumari58787]

I was like that with the vacuum cleaner. The vacuum cleaner hurts autistic ears very much and causes us to be very scared

I'm aspie by the way

[robynsteward]

have you tryed using either headphones ear plugs or ear defenders while the vacum clearner is in use? I always hated it when I was younger I now vacum using music and have found vacum cleaners which tone isnt so unplesent to my ears particully like the Henry vacm clearners

[tomislav80]

But she scared of them va-cuum-cleaner....

[batdo008]

great video. I'm learning about perseveration in a language acquisition class. The video was very helpful. Can anyone tell me what would happen if you give her earplugs?

[anothermentalcase]

i have pdd nos and i hate autistic people

strange isnt it?

[Kumari58787]

self hater

[hp21586]

PDD-NOS is one of the autism spectrum disorders.

[ahaili]

my sister has down's and she does this sometimes. she gets strange obsessions and will won't let it go.

[Warsie]

THE VACUUM CLEANER OOHHH ITS GONNA GET YOU :D

on a more serious note, I was afraid of volcanoes when I was younger and couldn't even say the word "volcano" and seeing Lava on TV got my jittery and scared...preschool-2-3 rd grade?

A few times the moon scared me shitless too because it was full and the light went into my room; that it was gonna get me. I think I knew it orbited the earth; still scared me..

[tebstoys]

Are you kidding me Warsie?

GMAB.

[tebstoys]

If we could only distract our kids! You obviously DO NOT have a child with this disorder, my son does the exact same thing as this little girl does. We could leave the room, the house, the STATE and he will keep going on about the damn vacuum once he starts. You know why? They cannot help it! Educate yourself before you post ignorant comments.

[Warsie]

he said "correct me if I'm wrong"; he left himself open so your "Educate yourself before you post ignorant comments" is aggressive and mean.

[Lizbethbike]

I don't know anything about this disorder you're making videos about but, correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me that you ought to simply distract her with a fun activity and not allow her to obsess over her fear for so long and allow her to make herself worse.

[fryboy190]

I have this disorder, and the fear is real.. I am very averse to being near noise, boat horns, train whistles, etc. But its ontly actute noise that seems to aggravate me. I actually enjoy volume when i expect it and anticipate it as my parents will well attest, and say "turn that music down!" But a sudden boat horn when not expected still gives me willies. Yet at a hockey game, a loud ship's horn upon a scored goal gives me no fright at all, in fact i revel in it. It depends on the situation.

[punk9999643]

i know what you mean. i love going to concerts, the loud guitars, drums, and singer dont annoy me, but i hate it when the croud cheers really loud, it just gets me nervous. I also hate fireworks and firecrackers.

[xenuke]

Awesome little girl. Congratulations on being a fantastic mom to her.

[magicalmiriam]

She is a sweet little girl,and you are a very supportive mum she is so lucky to have such good mum.

[casadecruz]

Does she do this every time the vacuum enters the house? Or does working through it make it more manageable so she isn't upset the next time? It is great that she can talk herself down like that!!

[funnygrl702]

maybe it hurts her ears...what if u took her for a walk?? or get her a toy vacuum maybe if u first introduced her to a smaller one she wouldnt feel overwhelmed by the bigger one show her what it does (pour dirt on the floor ) tell her its the cookie monsters cousin..and hes hungry lol...

[wiccamelissa]

my daughter screams and cries when she hears the vacum cleaner shes severly afraid of the noise! i guess she thinks its gonna run over her foot or suck her up1lol

[Neilgs]

Her fright of the vacuum and similar activities would not/should never constitute a diagnosis. The concern should NOT be at all with "shifting her focus away" but the opposite - with further compassion, empathy and insight explore, touch take apart the vacuum cleaner with her, make a game with it etc. The more she can be safe and secure within her own body/environment with Mom by discussing, interacting, feeling and exploring - tactile and otherwise, the more comfortable she will bceome.

[jjblondie55]

First I am no expert but my son had the sam e reaction to our vacuum cleaner until I did just what Neilgs recommends, now if he is in the room and the vacuum is out I can count on him exploring all of it's ins and outs and even when I turn it on he is right next to it...

[Serge165]

I am an Autistic person myself and I remember the noise actually being painful, I wonder if that's what Anna feels when the vaccum is going? if she doese have PDD-NOS which may be likely, she may not know the words to say 'This hurts me' and that is what's causing the fear. I suggest the above and earplugs, but of course, I am not expert. It is good to have an Autistic opinion, however :) Peace be with you

[tolsen01]

I think first of all your daughter is beautiful. I think you did an excellent job with her. Im a special education asst teacher, and the kids in my room have pdd. congrats to you as a parent for working her through her anxiety.. i wish more parents had the patience and understanding...i love it.. it makes my job worth it all...(:

[youtoo07]

My 10 yr old was diagnosed PDD-NOS a few years ago. I remember back in preschool the teacher told me that she covered her ears when they sang birthday songs. (The only child that did this in her class.) And she was difficult getting ready for school because the feel of her socks had to be just right and her shoe laces had to be just the right tightness. These were signs I didnt realize at the time.

[deblobdell]

thank you sharing your beautiful child. my son is pdd-nos, age 5. hope you are ignoring the ignorant negative comments and know that you are giving valuable insight!!

[Syncopatedrythm]

Perseverence is the word you were looking for.

[daniellewalker78]

Aww she doesn't know how to explain why she's scared.

[staciejung]

Hi, what a beautiful sweet child. How old is she? My 4 year old daughter's recently been diagnosed with PDD-NOS and your daughter reminds me so much of her. And not being diagnosed until she was just shy of 4, all I can do is joke that just when I got this parenting thing all figured out...

[fazleta]

Bless that darling child

[daniesza]

i just think doctors are so quick to label situations that they just dont understand. all children have fears, but should not be labelled with all these acronyms. she hits u and bites u because u are not paying attention to her.. but filming her.

i'm sorry, i just dont see her all that scared.

she is responding to your obsession that she has a problem.

her behavior is so normal...

[safraser]

Do you HAVE a special needs child? Are you a special needs teacher? Do you live with a disability every day? What exactly was the purpose of your posting, anyway? To cause even more grief for this brave parent who is trying to educate the "typical" community? Your statement "she is responding to your obsession that she has a problem" is not just uneducated, it is downright mean-spirited.

[auti34]

i hate the vacucim cleener it hutrs my ears

[daniellewalker78]

She's autistic you MORON.

[pixl8edkat]

thank you for sharing this!!

[MaryCappello]

When my nephew Casey has situations like this (fear of coffee grinder, for instance) my sister videotapes the offending machine and gives him the video. He watches it several times until he gains some control over his fear of it. It has helped in several situations. Something about the video helps to distance the frightening phenomenon, and puts it in his control (he can "play" it whenever he wants, or turn it off--and it's framed by the TV).

[holly0817]

Great idea! Thanks so much for sharing!!!

[christschool]

Very good idea, Mary

[AnasMarionette]

She is SOOO cute, and she was trying so hard...great job :-)

[christschool]

I don't think that is a perserveration but a fear because of the noise. Perserverations are almost always obsessive interests in subjects or objects. In other words, when your really interested in a particular subject (something you might like). She is telling you she has a sensory issue with the noise, quite common in autistic people with acute hearing. Sensory issues are not perserverations.

[holly0817]

Anna's verbal perseverations tend to be on things that scare her because they preoccupy her primary thought processes and interfere with her ability to focus on other thoughts even when presented with multiple opportunities to redirect focus. The vacuum cleaner was just one example to which I thought other parents could relate. Not all things that scare her make noise. For example, the heating pad (scary to her) is another common topic of repetitive conversations but is not a sensory issue.

[martialdrake]

I know many people on the spectrum are more sensitive to load noises. If you add that to the fact that children general have more sensitive hearing especially to higher frequencies,I can see why the vacuum cleaner might be painful for her, rather then it simply being a phobia. Have you thought about allowing her to be outside or in another room whilst the vacuum cleaner is on or perhaps giving her ear plugs.

[holly0817]

Thank you martialdrake for your suggestion. We left the house before the vacuum was on and ear plugs have been successful for the school cafeteria and other noisy places. She also does well with noise-cancelling headphones.